AIRCRAFT DESIGNER KEEN ON MAGLEVS

Wu Guanghui， a deputy to the 13th National Peoples Congress （NPC）， Chinas top legislature， and chief designer of the C919 homegrown passenger jet， suggested speeding up the research into maglev trains at a panel discussion of the Shanghai delegation during the Second Session of the 13th NPC on March 12.

Wu， Vice President of the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China， a state-owned and Shanghaibased aircraft manufacturer， said the upper limit of high-speed trains is 400km/h.

“If trains from Beijing to Shanghai can reach a speed of 500km/h， air travel will lose its competitiveness，” he said.

Wus comments attracted attention since it seemed ironic for an airplane designer to raise suggestions regarding the building of trains.

As a matter of fact， Wu has paid attention to maglev train research for a long time， in spite of his research specialty in aircraft. Wu， 59， holds a PhD in aircraft design from Beihang University and was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2017.

Crackdown on Extravagance

China Discipline Inspection and Supervision News March 11

A highlight of this years government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at the opening of the Second Session of the 13th National Peoples Congress on March 5 is reducing enterprises tax and social insurance contributions by 2 trillion yuan （$297.5 billion）. The massive tax reductions will inevitably deplete fiscal revenue， causing great pressure to fi nancial departments at all levels of governments.

To solve the problem， the Central Government will cut its general expenditure by 5 percent and the three pub- lic expenditures —government expenses for overseas trips， food and entertainment， and public vehicles—by 3 percent.

The three public expenditures of Central Government departments have been decreasing for several consecutive years. Local governments have also reduced their expenditures by a large margin. It has become increasingly rare for officials to visit tourist attractions of the cities where they attend a meeting， or stay at luxurious hotels on business trips.

However， although the number of disciplinary violations decreased significantly in 2018， problems such as issuing subsidies in violation of regulations， using public vehicles against the rules， and using public funds for tourism still exist. Extravagance and hedonism are not completely rooted out yet.

The government should increase spending on projects that improve peoples livelihood in order to improve their sense of happiness and security while being thrifty itself.

Stabilizing Employment

China Newsweek March 11

As China is accelerating economic structural adjustment amid slowdown， how does it keep development sustainable and healthy while ensuring social stability？

The 2019 government work report prescribed ensuring stable employment， a stable financial sector and foreign trade. It also suggested ensuring stable foreign and domestic investment and stable expectations to keep economic growth within a reasonable range.

Song Xiaowu， former Chairman of the China Society of Economic Reform， talked about how to stabilize employment. He suggested dealing correctly with the relationship between employment and investment. Although an investmentbased growth model can no longer be sustained， it doesnt mean investment is not important any more. Investment should be made with a view to creating employment.

Structural unemployment caused by technological innovation should be given more attention. Special training should be offered to those that need to change jobs and social insurance provided for those who retire ahead of the retirement age as a result of structural unemployment.

The government should also reduce enterprises social insurance contribution when employment pressure increases and apply the same rate to enterprises across the country to ensure fairness.

In addition， migrant workers employment should be given more importance. According to AllChina Federation of Trade Unions statistics， migrant workers accounted for nearly 70 percent of urban employees and those born after 1980 accounted for half of all migrant workers in 2017. Since newgeneration migrant workers have a higher sense of self-identification as urban residents， the government should pay more heed to the impact China-U.S. trade disputes and cutting overcapacity could have on employment.

Fishing in Academics

Qianjiang Evening News March 11

A vocational school in central Chinas Hubei Province has come under the spotlight after publishing an admission list for its crayfi sh-related major.

The Jianghan Art Vocational College in Qianjiang City established the crayfi sh major in 2017， including marketing， cooking techniques and nutrition as well as restaurant management.

Some consider it ridiculous. However reality has proved them wrong. At present， the 130 students majoring in crayfi sh at the vocational school have all been hired before graduation with a monthly salary of over 10，000 yuan （$1，487）. According to Gong Ding， Mayor of Qianjiang， “There are many kinds of talent. Some talent can send a rocket into space but may not be able to cook crayfi sh.” Those who misunderstand the crayfi sh major are misled by the thinking that college education should deal with only so-called serious subjects.

Qianjiang is known for its crayfish industry and in 2017， the transaction volume of the citys crayfi sh center reached 1.12 billion yuan （$166.8 million）.

Establishing crayfi sh-related majors in vocational schools will improve the industrial level of the crayfi sh industry to satisfy peoples needs for high-quality products and services.

As China continues to expand enrollment for vocational schools， vocational education should offer majors according to market demands， axing majors that have little market while increasing those that are urgently needed.

RECORD-BREAKING RACE WALKER

Liu Hong became the fi rst Chinese race walker in history to have two world records on March 9， after clocking 3：59：15 to set the world record in what was only her fi rst Womens 50km Walk.

The 31-year-old Liu， who also holds the Womens 20km world record of 1：24：38 set in La Coru？a， Spain in 2015， just came back from a nearly two-year maternity leave， but has shown great form so far this year. She fi nished fi rst in both of her previous 20km outings in January and February. It was only her third race of the year.

Born in Jian City of east Chinas Jiangxi Province in 1987， Liu joined the national team in 2005. She won the Womens 20km Walk at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing in 2015 and the Olympic Summer Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro， Brazil.

“The impressive growth in patent applications over the past decade and its continued growth at a high level last year reflect Chinas efforts to promote R&D;， exemplifying its innovation-driven economy.”

Antonio Campinos， President of the European Patent Office （EPO）， commenting on the EPO Annual Report for 2018 published on March 12， which showed patent applications from China grew by 8.8 percent in 2018 to 9，401 cases

“Sci-tech innovation cooperation makes up an important part of Sino-U.S. relations. Cities and companies in both countries will see real gains from stronger collaboration in this area.”

Chinese Consul General in Houston Li Qiangmin said at an event promoting southwest Chinas city of Chengdu in the southern U.S. city of Austin on March 8

“China will never allow Xinjiang to go back to the days of raging violence， terror and extremism and will never allow those forces to take away the peaceful and happy life from the people in Xinjiang.”

Yu Jianhua， head of the Chinese Mission to the UN Office at Geneva， commenting on an exhibition on the human rights situation in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region held on March 4-8 during the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council on March 8

“Through this cooperation， we hope to share the incredible wonders of our universe and bring the magic of BBC Earth documentaries to a larger audience in China.”

Cheng Xi， President of Chinas IPTV service provider BesTV， on March 12， announcing the companys cooperation with BBC Studios to bring over 200 hours of BBC Earth programs to its 46 million subscribers in China